Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

A mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.

Director:

Shekhar Kapur

Writers:

William Nicholson, Michael Hirst

Stars:

Jordi Mollà, Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush

Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jordi Mollà	...	King Philip ll of Spain
Aimee King	...	Infanta
Cate Blanchett	...	Queen Elizabeth I
Laurence Fox	...	Sir Christopher Hatton
John Shrapnel	...	Lord Howard
Geoffrey Rush	...	Sir Francis Walsingham
Susan Lynch	...	Annette
Elise McCave	...	Laundry Woman
Samantha Morton	...	Mary Stuart
Abbie Cornish	...	Bess Throckmorton
Penelope McGhie	...	Margaret
Rhys Ifans	...	Robert Reston
Eddie Redmayne	...	Thomas Babington
Stuart McLoughlin	...	Savage
Clive Owen	...	Sir Walter Raleigh

Storyline

Two faiths, two empires, two rulers - colliding in 1588. Papist Spain wants to bring down the heretic Elizabeth. Philip is building an armada but needs a rationale to attack. With covert intrigue, Spain sets a trap for the Queen and her principal secretary, Walsingham, using as a pawn Elizabeth's cousin Mary Stuart, who's under house arrest in the North. The trap springs, and the armada sets sail, to rendezvous with French ground forces and to attack. During these months, the Virgin Queen falls in love with Walter Raleigh, keeping him close to court and away from the sea and America. Is treachery or heroism at his heart? Does loneliness await her passionate majesty?

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Plot Keywords:

queen | spain | intrigue | court | america | 

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Taglines:

Woman. Warrior. Queen.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, some sexuality and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Studio Canal [fr]

Country:

UK France USA Germany

Language:

English Spanish Swedish

Release Date:

12 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Elizabeth - La edad de oro

Filming Locations:

Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,348,440 (UK) (2 November 2007)

Gross:

£4,856,733 (UK) (30 November 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eddie Redmayne played different roles in competing Elizabeth movies. In Elizabeth I, he played the traitor Southampton, and in Elizabeth: The Golden Age he played Thomas Babington.

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Goofs

Dr. John Dee is shown advising Elizabeth shortly before the Armada invasion of 1588. Historically, Dee spent 1583-89 traveling in mainland Europe.

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Quotes

Sir Amyas Paulet: And you, ma'am, are to be tried. For treason.
Mary Stuart: Me? What is any of this to do with me?

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Connections

Spoofed in The Simpsons: Four Great Women and a Manicure (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Love Theme - Arrest"
Written by David Hirschfelder
Conducted by David Hirschfelder, Ric Formosa and Sam Schwartz (as Sam Schwarz)
Courtesy of Universal Studios

User Reviews

Good Fun but Flawed History

Overall I enjoyed the movie. There have been too many recent films about the Tudors and Elizabeth in particular, but this film looks good and it keeps you entertained. It's set at the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Elizabeth is shown as tough, smart, and married to her country. She also suffers from bouts of insecurity and irrational jealousies. This film is more hagiographic and melodramatic than its predecessor.

The film tends to ignore the facts when they get in the way of the story. Elizabeth was 55 at the time of the Spanish Armada and she was never a looker. Blanchett's Queen is youngish and attractive. Blanchett's acting performance is powerful and impressive but also a bit stagy. The way the politics of the time are depicted is a bit too black and white. The Spanish look grim and are dressed in dark colors. They are portrayed as crazy, religious zealots. Spain had a right to be upset at English privateers / pirates who attacked their ships and stole their gold. Mary, Queen of Scots is shown as a dowdy, schemer who disliked Elizabeth. The reality was that Mary was a pretty bimbo who made bad choices when it came to men.

Parts of the film veer too much towards soap-opera. Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen)becomes a favorite, but when Bess Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting and Raleigh get secretly married, Elizabeth becomes jealous and behaves badly. Later, Raleigh and Francis Drake are shown defeating the Spanish at sea. In reality Raleigh was looking after the coastal defenses in the South West of England and didn't marry Throckmorton until 1591. The real Raleigh was a brilliant man: soldier, explorer, writer, poet and courtier and probably deserves his own film. The film is good fun but it's simplistic, cartoon history.